Moreno: Sevilla will be special for me, but I'll fight for Liverpool win

Alberto Moreno is set to return to his hometown next week to face the club he grew up supporting and eventually representing - but there’ll be no impact on his focus for Liverpool should he line up against Sevilla.

The Reds resume their Champions League campaign when they travel to Spain a week on Tuesday for the penultimate group-stage round of fixtures.

For Moreno, it’ll be an occasion with added emotion given he progressed through the youth ranks at Los Rojiblancos and into their first team before his move to Anfield in 2014.

Nevertheless, the full-back insists any sentiment he may feel won’t prove a distraction.

He said: “I live for Liverpool. I love Liverpool. I always want to win when I am wearing the shirt of Liverpool. I’ll fight hard for victory like I do every time I pull that shirt on.

“It’ll be a special game, if I am selected to play. Lots of family and friends will be going to watch it.

“But irrespective of the occasion, we will be going there to win to get us as high as possible in the table, because we’re also mindful we’ve got one more home game to come, against Spartak.”

Moreno believes there are plenty of similarities between Liverpool and Sevilla, not least the motto of the Spanish city – No Me He Dejado which roughly translates as ‘She [the city] has not abandoned me’, sentiments comparable to the Reds’ very own You’ll Never Walk Alone.

“That’s the motto of the municipality, but yes, it’s similar,” he said. “For the Sevilla fans it is more like: Nunca Se Rinde. It means they never give up.

“As a player, what I love about both sets of fans is they never stop encouraging you and driving you forward, shouting and singing.

“Sevilla fans are similar in that respect to Liverpool fans. So in terms of atmosphere, they’re both similar but in terms of the stadiums themselves Anfield is more on top of you, more closed in if you like, whereas the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium is a bit more open apart from the main stand.

“There’s been some work on it recently, all the seats are red now like Anfield.”

Liverpool will go into the game a point ahead of Sevilla at the top of Group E and know a victory will see them secure a place in the next phase of the Champions League.

“I’ve only played in the group stages of the Champions League, so to get through to the next round would be really special, as I’m sure it would for everyone here,” said Moreno.

“It’s been a few years since we got through as a club to the knockout stages. The fans deserve a happy event like that.”